CRRC Corporation’s Dalian plant in China hosted the presentation of the first two Class 45 locomotives for South African freight company Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). Transnet placed an order with CNR and its local south African consortium CNR RSSA for 232 class 45-000s in March 2014.
A total of 232 of these locomotives will be going into service and they are expected to play a decisive role in modernizing and expanding freight transport in South Africa. MTU is supplying 232 MTU Series 4000 diesel engines for the fleet under a EUR 100 million contract.
The locomotives will be driven by MTU’s most powerful rail engine, the Type 20V 4000 R63L that produces 3,300 kW.
Starting in June, around 200 MTU engines will be assembled, tested and commissioned by MTU staff in South Africa. The base engines and parts will be supplied to Cape Town from Friedrichshafen. Only the first 20 locomotives will be built in China. The remaining 212 locomotives will be built in Durban, South Africa, by a local consortium under the guidance of CRRC. All locomotives are to be delivered by 2019. The new locomotives which were presented in Dalian will now be shipped out to South Africa where they will undergo tests from June.
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